Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Fall Reruns

Oh, yes, Fall is supposed to be about new shows and new shoes, but a couple of folks have asked to see pictures of the house before we move. While I feel like it is all out there already, it is not all in one place. In fact, just putting this together required hunting and pecking through files and blog posts.

Here is my hand-drawn-not-to-scale and likely-inaccurate floor plan. I can't really visualize houses based on floor plans, but I know some people can (like my husband) so I am including it to provide a little perspective for those who think that way. (What? You were expecting 1/4" = 1' and that super-cool architect's handwriting? Honestly, I wish I worked like that.)

Front hall - Dash and Albert runner, do-it-yourself color blocks and the rug that Rosie wrecks every single day.

Coat closet - channeling Dorothy Draper. A tiny, little bit.

Powder room - this was a last minute spif.

Living room - I did a little shifting in the last few weeks. We purchased a new TV and the chest that was formerly here seemed like a better fit than what we had in the kitchen. Then the dominos began to fall. Dining room tables and mirrors moved here and the dining room was once again (always) barren and sad.

South view - and my favorite of the three configurations over ten years. Also, the briefest.

Office - Sorry, Toad, the rug is coming with.

The National Disaster that is my Dining Room.

Sitting area in the kitchen. That armoire is now upstairs holding books in the boys' room. Was. The books are all packed. Mr. Blandings, in a move that rivals his rants about how many apples the boys eat, had groused a bit about the number of boxes of books that have been loaded into the container.

Kitchen eating area - with beloved Cherner chairs. They swivel. They are a bevy of gals with the nipped waists and the full skirts doing the twist. I adore them.

Kitchen bath - behind the door is a make-shift mudroom with cubbies and hooks. (Margaret Russell said once, somewhere, in relation to Steven Gambrel's powder room in the last Sag Harbor house, that it is tricky to photograph bathrooms without showcasing the toilet. Clearly, I didn't manage it; I've done it twice in one post.)

Our bedroom is sort of where furniture goes to die. It was always the step-child of the house.

These pictures were taken once we readied it for the buyers to see, so, per all how-to-sell-your-house tips, we had removed all personal pictures and items. It looks incredibly spare to me.

The sitting room - these chairs are basically staging. There were other, shabbier, more comfortable chairs in here to facilitate TV viewing that are now in the basement. I inherited these from a friend and this is the original upholstery. They will be recovered, someday, when we land in a new spot.

Master bath

with one sink. This was the only drawback that Mr. Blandings could find the first time he saw the house. Just this week, ten years later, he said, "It really wasn't that big of a deal."

This room has changed, as you may know, from nursery to teen-ager room. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the new set up before tear down.

Play room - I may live to stamp again. I loved this project.

The littler boys' room,

dressing areaand bath.

Normally this is where we would start, out back, for drinks and snacks. The whole lot is a jumbly mess right now, so it is nice to see each room when it was at its best. We have not confirmed where we are going. Through the power of the universe and the internet we will be held at a friend's who is on an adventure of her own. No better place to be on-hold than a spot where she coaxed me through the first stages of my oldest putting his toe outside the nest.

Your home is not only lovely but, a lovely home...it looks like it was well loved and lived in, yet still extremely charming. I'm sure your next will be just as wonderful and most importantly, it will have a behaving and cooperative dining room, I'm sure of it!xo J~

thanks for showing us your (soon-to-be) old home. As someone who has moved a lot (9 times in 18 years 3 expat assignments) lest me reassure you that you will find another perfect house. Your heart is in the right place - with your family- and the home you create is less about the physical house than the feeling you create. In our perigrinations I have felt at home here on your blog. You will create another comfortable graceful home. It is what you do. And thanks for sharing it with us...xoxo LA

You home is\was very beautiful it must be sad to leave it. I know you posted on your national disaster dining room before... but seeing it with all the other rooms it became clear to me at least that the wall colour is wrong. Too dark. I think you may have already identified this of course. I think yellow would have worked. Very Georgian.

The thing I can never get over is the way the houses in the US sit up proud with no fences. We don't really do that here.

This is a beautiful tribute to your well-loved home. The next owners are lucky because they will definitely feel those vibrations. You really have a wonderful way of wrapping things up. I'm sure another wonderful place awaits you in this adventure.

Your bedroom as a place where furniture goes to die, made me chuckle...I understand that so well...in my case, it is our office. Everything that doesn't work, I don't like or that has no place squeezes in that room.Good luck with the move, xv.

Patricia - I do remember individual rooms from previous posts and project details, but it is fun to see it all together. So much of this will go with you to your new home (after all, a house is just a house, etc...), and so glad you have someplace more personal than a rental to nest while things are working out for the new abode. Rebecca

My parents live in the same house where I was "reared" as Southerner's like to say. There are things like scratches on the door from the dog and other fingerprints and divets on the wall from the seven of us, my father tells me that "Money can't replace those things." As pretty as your home is, I just loved that post of your basement making those Holiday soldiers.Lucky next home-owners, I'd say.pve

Patricia - one can so easily see the love, labor, creativity that you have poured into this home and the next home will be just as lucky, I'm sure. Thank you for posting this - taking the time to do this in the middle of your moving mayhem? Zowie! Your readers, I bet, are incredibly appreciative.

So glad you have a place to land before you have to make a decision. Maybe your next house will come an apple tree and there will be ooddles and ooddles of bookcases calling your name. Loved the description of your girls in the kitchen doing the twist!

Thanks so much for sharing the rest of your home with all of us! And where have those Cherner chairs been hiding all this time? I would have loved to see those tried out in the dining room during the "national disaster" debacle. Best of luck in the coming weeks! Mike- Kansas City

I haven't been on your site very long---only recently discovered you---anyway, love seeing your home and I understand you're moving. I imagine you'll make a beautiful home out of the next place---you clearly have a talent. Best of luck. Thank you for the tour.

Love your comments on your old house. I had to grin reading the line.... is sort of where our furniture goes to die...in the master bedroom that is. Like in our house. Your are not alone....But wish you a dream bedroom in the new house and the perfect dining room too. Love your colors in the house, so warm and inviting.

always have loved those brkfst room chairs of yours. And the dining room conundrum, makes me laugh. How many of us have stood there, arm crossed, index finger to pursued lip, brows furrowed... 'maybe bring in the living room drapes? paint the chairs? add some blue?' it just wasn't meant to be.

I'm not sure how I can describe how I felt "walking" through your house. It was truly like being invited in. Thank you. And, how did I miss that you, too, have the antelope carpet. Love, love, love, love. It was the first decision I made for my current little white house. Since it's a neutral, it will look good no matter where you land!

Thank you for sharing this stage of your journey with us, particularly at such a stressful time. Although the resolved and settled moments in life seem to be the ones we most aspire to, it is in the freefall where we find our souls and confirm the important stuff: who we love and who loves us back. And just remember that the home you need, needs you.

Thanks for sharing the room by roomof your Dream House. The Blandings will find a place to dwell to call their own, again to live, love and report on conversations whilst in transit with Little Blandings.Best wishes to all,BarbaraG

Wow - this might be my favorite post ever - not only because I love houses, but I love seeing the entire house in one post, a house that I have only seen in bits and pieces through the years. Best of luck with the next few month, the next year. I am off to catch up on the past few months (I have been shamefully out of the blogging mode, both with my own and with keeping up on others).

Thanks as always for your generosity, Mrs B, in opening up your home as well as spending the time to write to us all. It has inspiration and character. Best wishes with the stint in the friend's house and in finding your next more permanent digs.

Oh Patricia, a big thank you for showing us your home,all in one place! I remember your showcasing the stamped walls in the playroom, the Albert and Dash runner,the dining room drama, the lovely antelope rug in the study! J'adore it all! Thank you for including us on your journey.... What lucky ,lucky new owners. -linda, manhasset,ny

makes me sad and happy for you all at the same time....life is constantly moving and you have been so lucky to have such a love filled home, beautifully decorated and instilled in a sophisticated sense of color and style. I dont doubt that wherever you wind up will have lots of the same sensibilities. Love it and thanks for sharing with me....my daughter will go to college in a couple years and I'm sure life will change for us as well. best, tamara

Lovely home. It would be great if the new owners give you a peak in a few months to see how they may have retained or changed it. Your living room is warm and lovely, but I must say the dining room misses the mark a bit. Perhaps things are missing, but the color is too contemporary for the room and the chairs under dressed. Perhaps they would be better in the breakfast room in the next house.

patricia, it's bliss to be your guest. always. and the blue powder room is a swoon. every bit of the house is luscious in the most blandings sort of way. just heaven. now, onward! toward more heaven...

I am in shock. Doing my typical once a week catch up and here you are = moving. wow. your house is so gorgeous, a dream house to me. that entry hall still slays me. cant wait for you to find the dining room of your dreams. move state lines = 5 blocks? unheard of in texas! congrats and best of luck. Joni

MrsB, Bittersweet. I love it. So many memories must've been made within these walls. Love the boys kohler brockway sink... my husband (and my sister) both dream about that sink. I can't wait to see where your new journey takes you. I still love your coat closet, such a precious little surprise tucked in that teeny space. It's all beautiful!!E

All you need for your next bedroom is a soft blue-gray wall color, that gorgeous bed, white bedding, seagrass rug and two Christopher Spitzmiller lamps and you are good to go!!!With your blonde hair, it would look so serene and glam!

Hi, good luck with the move! Where is the rug from you have/had in the red room? I've been trying to find it and thought I had it sourced some time ago, but it was no longer available - can't remember now where I tracked it to. Understandably, you're busy! Sorry to bother you.

Patricia O'Dell Shackelford

aka Mrs. Blandings

Come On In

I wandered into one of my favorite shops eight years ago to buy a dog ball and, through a very indirect route, ended up here writing about decorating, my family and life. My posts are not as frequent as they used to be, but you're welcome to drop in anytime.

What's that? Why "Mrs. Blandings?" Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is a 1940's movie starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy chronicling their adventures in renovating. In the movie, Loy delivers an iconic description of paint colors that nearly every design aficionado knows by heart. She is my muse.